#54

Mu – Afro Finger and Gel
house, electronic
2003

I’m reasonably certain that Mutsumi Kanamori eats babies and can kill you with her brain. The lead singer for punk-house freakshow Mu delivers her punchy, broken-English caterwauling with such fearlessness and defiant attitude, that when she belts out lines like “Show me what you want mutherfucker! Who do you think you are? You don’t know how strong I am!”, it doesn’t seem too far-fetched that she might physically burst forth from your speakers, primed to kick your ass halfway into next week. If it sounds like Afro Finger and Gel is a touch on the difficult side of the listening spectrum, that’s because it well and truly is. Kanamori’s vocals are completely awesome – although that only really becomes apparent after a few listens; to start with she’s just really scary – and Maurice Fulton wraps her up in a prickly DJ set of abrasive, thumpy and distinctively retro-flavoured house music. This album really won me over for a handful of primary reasons. First of all, nothing I’ve ever heard sounds even remotely like Afro Finger and Gel, so it certainly scores big points for originality. Secondly, all the scary unfamiliarity of the album gives way to some really addictive grooves and surprisingly enticing singalong vocals, so it demands repeat listens based on far more than novelty alone. Finally, the album is hilarious. Whether it’s the ridiculous talk show parody of “My Name is Tommi” (best track, fyi), the “where the hell did that come from?” R&B breakdown partway into “Let’s Get Sick” or the mind-bending juxtaposition of Kanamori’s indignant vocals against the jaunty piano backing on “Hello Bored Biz Man”, the album delivers plenty of smile-worthy moments and even a few laugh-out-loud ones. But mostly, it’s all about Kanamori being awesome – did I mention she kicks ass, eats babies and can kill you with her brain?